I mentioned on Facebook this week that I was giddy over the fact that for a few short hours, I was beating the Cookie Monster in the top ten list for my podcast category in iTunes. I said if I had a bucket list, I’d write that down just so I could cross it off.
But I don’t have a bucket list. So I started thinking about whether I should have one.
Back before I started this blog (as a compromise), I had big plans for my “real” blog. It was going to be about intentional parenting. That is my passion. I don’t want to waste time or let those fleeting decades slip by without being purposeful about how our family functions and what I’m teaching my children.
Anyway, the “Take that, Cookie!!” moment made me think about whether the important stuff happens in the big things or in the little things.
Do I need a bucket list to be intentional? Or is being intentional a day-by-day choice?
Both.
I do have to figure out how to make the big stuff happen. For example, it has always been my dream to spend time as a family at the camp where I worked as a teenager. I want to go when my kids are all able to be campers. Campers are 8-12. This summer, my youngest will be 8 and my oldest will be 12.
It’s now or never, and without being intentional, that BIG trip won’t happen.
But I believe it’s more important (and more difficult) to be intentional in the little things.
It’s one (very good) thing to plan a day at the waterpark for the family.
It’s another (more important) thing to be purposeful about setting up my summer days to include heading to the pool every afternoon. To stuff my 39 year old body into a bathing suit five times a week because I’m determined my kids’ summer will be filled with exercise and togetherness instead of video games and TV.
It’s one (very good) thing to plan a nice dinner out so my kids can experience what it’s like to use their best manners.
It’s another (harder, but more rewarding) thing to do whatever it takes to get dinner on the table every single night so we can eat together, talk together, live together.
It’s one (very good) thing to sign my kids up for sports.
It’s another (more exhausting, but more fun) thing to head outside after supper and throw the baseball (or ride scooters, or kick a soccerball) instead of sitting in front of the television. Even though sitting in front of the television sounds ever-so-appealing after a long and tiring day.
It’s one (very good) thing to spend a week cleaning house so I can throw a big party and welcome people into my home.
It’s another (better) thing to establish daily habits that allow me to keep the house under control so I can host a church home group in my home every single week and invest in people’s lives.
--Nony
I would love if you’d do more writing on this occasionally! It’s something I really need to work on for sure. (Also, please let me know if I can help any with pre-editing for you! I mean it! 🙂 )
Lenetta, I had to go back and read the post because I thought, “Did I mention that I’m taking the week off to work on a book??” No, you just read my mind and commented at the exact perfect time. I’ll email you. (Hopefully soon!)
As much as I wish I was on your exact wavelength, you mentioned working on the book *somewhere*… I just don’t know where either. 🙂 please use the email addy attached to this comment, I check it more often. Looking forward to it!
thank you for this encouragement. needed to hear this.
I think intentional living is more in the day-to-day things we do (or sometimes don’t do). Big things can be cool and fun, but it’s the little things that add up. It’s kind of like a husband who will take you out for supper and buy you flowers on your birthday, anniversary, and Valentine’s day, but won’t fix the leaky faucet, mow the lawn, or check the oil in the car. Dinner and flowers are fun, but if he neglects the everyday stuff, the big stuff doesn’t mean anywhere near as much.
That’s kind of like it is around the house for me. Taking my daughter for an overnight trip next month for some mother/daughter bonding time will be fun, but cleaning the house, making sure there’s supper on the table every night, and paying the bills so we don’t live in a box in the middle of winter or have to deal with internet withdrawals are the most important things in our lives.
Great post!
I love this. It IS so much easier to work on ‘the big stuff’ and let the small things get by us. I totally agree with you. Being intentional with the small stuff on a consistent basis is so important. I love your perspective on parenting, I think we have similar thoughts. <3
Congratulations! So glad your podcasts are doing so well. Great post too.
Loved this message! I have been thinking about this very thing lately & how being intentional with my children during day-to-day life is so important. Between work, school, sports, etc., these busy, ordinary days have a way of slipping by without real, meaningful interaction if I am not careful.
thank you. i needed to read this. i am interested in your parenting ideas.
I absolutely think A Slob Comes Clean is about Intentional Parenting. That message has been ringing loud and clear from the very beginning. This post is QUITE profound, and FWIW, I do not have a bucket list either. Thank you for sharing your heart with us.
And if anyone cares, I’d listen to Nony over Cookie any day, my kids would too!
The summer camp example is so great.. I have found myself twirling around and then clearing out the cobwebs… wondering how I missed giving my kids some of the experiences that, in retrospect, they should have gotten when they were “2-4” or “4-6”, etc. It’s nothing earth-shattering. I did remember to send them to Kindergarten and stuff. But because of ME, allowing time to race past without being intentional about those time-sensitive things- they didn’t get the experience or the memories. Thank you for the reminder to be intentional in the big and small stuff.
I just found you through a link on FB and I’m tooooo excited for really good words. My friends have long called me an intentional parent. I’m so glad to see a post about intentional living. It warms my heart and makes me feel less alone in my thinking. Thank you!
This reminds me of a quotation from Saint Josemaria Escriva: “Great holiness consists of carrying out the little duties of each moment.”
AMEN!
I love this! So glad you shared for us to read in 2023. 🙂